Crepe rubber is coagulatedlatex that is rolled out in crinkled sheets and commonly used to make soles for shoes and boots but also a raw material for further processed rubber products.
Colloidal latex is then mixed with formic acid to cause it to coagulate. The coagulum is processed in a "creping battery", a series of machines that crush, press, and roll the coagula. The sheets are then hung in a heated drying shed and, after drying, sorted by grade and packed for shipping.[1]
Types
There are several types and grades of rubber crepe, mainly distinguished by the grade and pre-processing of the latex used in their manufacture.[2]
Pale latex crepe (PLC) is a premium grade, made from raw field latex.
Estate brown crepe (EBC) is made from "cup lump" (raw, naturally coagulated rubber from the collection cup) and other coagula.
Re-milled crepe is made from "wet slab coagulum" (cured latex, still wet from the coagulation tanks), latex sheets (unsmoked) and cup lump.
Smoked blanket crepe is made from thick sheets of latex that have been processed in a smoker.
Flat bark crepe is made from scraps and other poor quality raw product.
Gallery
Hand-powered latex creping machines
Removing coagulum from coagulating troughs
Creping battery
Milling honey-colored crepe
Milling white crepe
Spooling crepe from last finishing mill
Smooth crepe spooled for transfer to the drying shed
Wet coagulum crepe blanket
Smallholder's sheet in a drying shed
White crepe hanging in a drying shed
Laminating white crepe for sole crepe
Laminating honey-coloured crepe for sole crepe
Sole crepe inspection and packing
References
^ abcdManufacture of latex crepe rubber (pdf-document), Raw Rubber Process Development & Chemical Engineering Dept., Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka, Ratmalana, January 2016